He does it anyway: publish images of his illegal visit to the forbidden Indian island of North Sentinel, domain of an extremely primitive but not harmless tribe. The American Mishka Polyakov became world news with that trip a year ago and is now trying to explain that he did not endanger anyone. “People can think whatever they want.”
More than a year ago, he literally became world news with his stunt, YouTuber Mishka Polyakov (25): he was arrested after a visit to North Sentinel Island, an island near India where several hundred Sentinelese have been living isolated for centuries as if time had stood still. He came under a lot of criticism, because he would endanger himself and the tribe, could transmit diseases and moreover: it is simply not allowed. Point.
Then it became quiet. This site spoke to Polyakov by email and heard that the years of imprisonment that threatened had become ‘just’ a fine. Polyakov – an adventurer who also traveled to Afghanistan – had to get away from India and hand in the video recordings. Back to Arizona empty-handed. That’s how it seemed.
Only a month ago he still posted the first images of his trip online. In The Last Island In part 1 you ‘only’ saw his preparations and previously failed attempts. In The Last Island part 2, published on Friday, he sets foot on the mysterious island in the last minutes.
“Yes, I receive a lot of reactions, positive and negative. I am open to that. A lively debate is healthy,” he responds, again by e-mail and always briefly, to questions from this site. He is not very concerned about India. He thinks they don’t worry about it anymore.
He does not want to say how he acquired images that he had to donate in India. But they really seem to be the images he was not allowed to make. On the tiny motor boat with which he made the crossing at night at the end of March 2025, he shows off the can of Diet Coke with which he became world news. He wanted to give it to the islanders.
‘There have been hundreds of contacts’
Before Polyakov sets foot on land, he explains in the video that his stunt is not as crazy as he was told. According to his research, there have been ‘perhaps even hundreds’ of previous contacts between the islanders and outsiders.
He also thinks it is exaggerated that he could transmit diseases unknown to the islanders: “I have been vaccinated for flu and measles and I never had the intention of making direct contact. And as far as I know you cannot get diseases from looking at each other.”
‘Gift from our civilization’
On his boat he says he wants to see them, say hello and offer them a coke ‘to take them thousands of years forward in time’. “I wanted to give them something as a gift that is representative of our civilization,” he emails, when this site asks what the purpose of that was.
Once on the beach, Polyakov is disappointed to see a lot of ‘modern waste’, washed up or once taken by someone. So it’s not that pristine, he seems to be saying.
In the video, Polyakov does his best to make it clear that his stunt is better thought out than it seemed last year. “I have my reservations about India’s policy when it comes to this island, but I understand the considerations why the government has chosen this position,” he emails, referring to the Indian decision to declare the island a prohibited area since 1996 to leave the indigenous tribe alone.
“But I have no expectations of what people think of me now. Everyone can think whatever they want.”
He doesn’t do much else on the beach. The islanders (who can be very aggressive towards outsiders) do not show themselves. Although there will be a part 3, Polyakov already reveals that he has had no contact with them.
Polyakov can be found on YouTube under the name neo-orientalist. A name he chose because he travels a lot to Asia. “And I also like the curiosity that the name conveys.”
